Warner Music heads for float

Warner Music Group, the world's fourth-largest music company, yesterday set a price for its much anticipated initial public offering, saying it would sell shares at between US$22 and US$24.

The New York-based company, whose artists include Madonna and Metallica, said net proceeds are expected to be about US$581m.

The entire company will be valued at US$3.4bn. The company also has US$2.4bn of debt.

The IPO will provide Warner Music with the cash to do a deal that many in the media industry have long expected, a merger with EMI of the UK. EMI, the only publicly traded music company, has a market capitalisation of (pounds sterling)1.94bn ($3.7bn).

In the filing, Warner Music said progress had been made against illegal copying of music, and said the industry "has been encouraged by the recent proliferation and early success of legitimate digital music distribution channels."

- THE INDEPENDENT